COLIN CAMPBELL: Seagull folly of NatureScot is strictly for the birds - do you agree?
The NatureScot organisation is following an erratic flight path with its stance on the ongoing seagull menace in parts of the Highlands.
It began as a bird protector among other commitments, and who could say a word against that. But for its officials, somewhere along the line, attitudes seemingly hardened. Now, in their obsession with seagull protection, they have become worse pests than the most aggressive birds themselves.
I've never been a victim of a gull strike but I know people who have, and the speed and force with which it's carried out can be a terrifying experience coming out of nowhere. It's not something anyone ever forgets.
And Inverness in particular has been plagued by the coastal seagull problem.
At its worst children have been confined indoors during school lunchbreaks to avoid the increasingly bold and brazen threats from above.
And according to the Inverness BID commercial organisation 150 cases of "adverse impact" were recorded in 2024, with victims requiring medical treatment and injuries to children and older people.
This has gone on for years. One notion that was intended to frighten off seagulls was the installation of a scarecrow type metal hawk-like device emitting hawk-like sounds. It didn't work. The seagulls weighed it up and then plastered droppings all over it.
But at least the intent was there to try and counter the seagull menace. And the intent is still there - but the seagull lovers of NatureScot seem to be doing all in their considerable powers to blunt or even block it altogether.
A spokeswoman for BID said: “While the law remains unchanged, the new guidance has made it nearly impossible to obtain licences for egg and nest removal, even where all satisfactory measures have been undertaken to preserve public health and safety."
There are demands for "proof" of nesting, for photographs from high buildings which are difficult to obtain, and - bizarrely - that "premises are frequented by vulnerable groups".
There are certainly "vulnerable people" housed in premises in Inverness city centre. NatureScot seem so concerned about the welfare of seagulls that they may be planning to open a matching aviary of multiple occupation for the birds staffed by a warden providing regular food supplies. Well, that might at least lessen their enthusiasm for attacking people.
Now a Scottish Office minister, pressed to admit that NatureScot have gone too far in their seagull adoration, has pledged to hold a "gull summit" for representatives of various groups and politicians from Inverness and the Highlands. This will no doubt flare up into heated debate over whether the nests of these pests can be moved or remain sacrosanct.
No one wants unwarranted animal or bird cruelty but in the face of what can only be described as unrestrained aggression the tender sensibilities of NatureScot for seagulls are farcically and even dangerously inappropriate. Its officials are living in a ludicrous world of their own. One that's strictly for the birds.
